Silverdome roof torn by weather damage

Today, the building’s roof features bigger holes than the Detroit Lions defense had during their winless season in 2008.

WXYZ-TV published aerial footage of the stadium’s torn roof on Monday.

“We deflated the roof in the beginning of January,” Silverdome spokesman Alex Loewy said Monday afternoon.

Officials said at the timethat the deflation was a planned event, but Pontiac Building Director Jeff Bowdell told the Oakland Press at the time that a small tear prompted the deflation.

“I was told there was a small tear that kept the fans from being able to keep up with the air necessary to keep the roof inflated,” Bowdell said.

Bowdell said he wasn’t aware of the latest damage to the Silverdome’s roof, but it wouldn’t change the city’s position.

“We’ve already given them an order that they can’t use (the arena),” Bowdell said Monday. Bowdell works for the firm Wade Trim, the city’s contractor for building department services.

After the roof was deflated on Jan. 3, the building department’s order was that no one is to be in the arena unless they are there to repair the roof.

Loewy said Silverdome officials expected the winter weather to exacerbate the roof’s damage.

“We knew with heavy winds and snow (the roof) would start to tear,” he said. “We were prepared for it.”

That preparation included a winterization of the building, though the field remains uncovered.

Loewy said the plan still calls for a “new hard roof structure with solar panels,” with installation beginning in the spring or early summer.

“Once everything’s done, we plan on hosting all kinds of different events,” Loewy said.

The city sold the Silverdome at auction in November 2009 under the direction of then-Emergency Financial Manager Fred Leeb to Andreas Apostolopoulos of the Canada-based Triple investment Group LLC for $583,000.

The stadium was completed in 1975 at a cost of $55 million.The 80,000-seat Silverdome was the home of the Detroit Lions from 1975 until January 6, 2002, when the team played its final game in Pontiac before moving to Ford Field in Detroit.

Contact Dave Phillips at 248-745-4631 or dave.phillips@oakpress.com. Follow him on Twitter @dave_phillips1.